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Drug abuse/pedalling and the Ministry

According to the Harry Potter Wikia, there is a sub-department in the Department of Magical Law enforcement named the Department of Intoxicating Substances that deals with alcohol abuse. What about Drug abuse and drug pedalling? Would this department deal with this as well (since drug is intoxicating) or will it be dealt with by the Improper Use of Magic Office? The drug I'm mentioning in my story is a magical drug made with magical ingredients, not the Muggle drugs.

I'd think it'd be the same section of the Ministry, but you could make a case for a separate one. I'm not sure about the UK, but in the US we have two divisions that could handle those sorts of substances: the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration).

I can't see it being the Improper use of Magic office because that seems to be more exploding toilets and biting teapots sort of thing, like using magic in the wrong ways.

Edit:

Originally Posted by BrokenPromise

I think that Megan/noblefate is thinking of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Dept. so perhaps these alcohol and drug abuse departments could be in Improper Use of Magic.

Looking at this, I think that's exactly what I was thinking of. *shakes head* I'm losing it in my old age.

Well, the Department of Intoxicating Substances isn't mentioned in canon, so I think you have fairly free reign. You could even make the case for both it and the Improper Use Of Magic Office being involved in the regulation and control of drugs. The Department of Intoxicating Substances could deal with the drug users and dealers, while the Improper Use Of Magic Office could deal with those who make the drugs, if they are made by magical means. I'm sure that creating harmful substances would count as a missuse of magic on some level.

There are so many complex issues with the topic of magical drugs. What would count as an 'intoxicating substance'? There are all sorts of potions, like Confusing and Befuddlement Drafts (OotP) which you could argue would fall into that classification, and yet they are brewed freely at Hogwarts. Sorry. I know I'm going off topic, and you've doubtless thought this through already, but I'm intrigued now

If you said that alcohol abuse was in the Dept. of Magical Law Enforcement, that means that there's something illegal about them. If the same applies to drugs, why would it be in a different department?

I think that as the department is for Intoxicating Substances then I think drugs would come under this. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that they're under the same department in the UK. Alcohol is a type of drug after all.

Also, Improper Use of Magic could be anything. I think that Megan/noblefate is thinking of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Dept. so perhaps these alcohol and drug abuse departments could be in Improper Use of Magic.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm writing that the substance abuse shall be dealt with both the Improper Use of Magic Office and the Office for the Control of Intoxicating Substances (since it's not necessarily canon, I tweaked the name a bit).

Originally Posted by The Owl

What would count as an 'intoxicating substance'? There are all sorts of potions, like Confusing and Befuddlement Drafts (OotP) which you could argue would fall into that classification, and yet they are brewed freely at Hogwarts.

That makes me wonder too, Sophie. I think that though these are intoxicating substances, they would not necessarily be dealt with by the ministry unless they are abused as drugs. Kind of like how medicine are: they are useful in normal circumstances, but when used more than often and as intoxication, it is called "drug abuse".